My mother taught in an inner city setting in the Bronx. I don't know what the socio-economics are like in Kenai. but these kids had to deal with single parent households, drug addicted parents,and child abuse. And this was back during the time when these issues didn't make the front page of any newspaper. I don't know what life is like in Alaska for high school, but way too many teachers face the type of children my mother did, with even fewer resources. At least my mother didn't have to buy the paper for the school's mimeograph machine.

Toni, I'm sorry the teachers in your state are so unethical that they fudge scores so people can play sports. I am very fortunate that at my school, the principal backs us 100%. If the kid is failing, they don't play. End of story. There is no pressure put on the teachers to change the grade.

I'm also sorry your tests are so "easy." They aren't in Nebraska. But it doesn't matter if they are easy or hard. My point is: you have got to trust the teachers. And if you don't, they shouldn't be teaching. If I feel a student hasn't met the minimum requirements for English I, he or she DOESN'T PASS. I am not leaving this child behind, I am keeping him/her back so that he or she CAN learn the material.

Many of my students are low income or poverty level, some from 4th or 5th generation poverty homes. I have students who have been kicked out of other schools and are on their 15th foster home. I am fighting much more than just trying to get kids to write in complete sentences, I am trying to break the cycle of "I don't need an education" and I don't need 15 damn state mandated tests to tell me if this student is succeeding in that or not. *I* can tell. This is why I went to school to be a teacher.

Talk to a teacher. Ask why one state has pulled out of No Child Left Behind and others are considering it.